[smokum]

new to the site. just bought a 03 E. yesterday. planning to change the Serpentine Belt this weekend and wanted to know what else should i replace... car has 87k. thanks

 

[slimerdogs]

The belt is about it and here is a thread on how to replace it.
http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15121&highlight=belt+replacement

 

[duckloads]

If you can do a search on "duckloads" you can find what I did during my 90k mile service.

Good luck

 

[Basset Box]

new to the site. just bought a 03 E. yesterday. planning to change the Serpentine Belt this weekend and wanted to know what else should i replace... car has 87k. thanks

If you don't know when the fluids were last changed I would change them all. Easy to do if you follow the DIY threads here and will cost $50-100 to do it all (for 2wd). Just do one a week until you are done. Make sure to grab some cold ones to keep hydrated.

 

[wozzwinkl]

Useful tidbit

I know this thread is really old, but I used it recently and I have figured out something useful which I wanted to share.

I had a HELL of a time getting the new belt on. I bought a GoodYear GatorBack belt, and checking the old one against the new one, the GY belt was about 1/8" shorter. Maybe that was just due to stretching of the old belt (62k miles on it). However, the new belt was impossible to get on in the manner described in all of the previous posts.

I used the "double wrench" method, but rigged a couple of small C-clamps to hold it in the un-tensioned position so that I could deal with routing the belt with both hands. I had everything routed perfectly, with only the alternator pulley remaining. It WOULD NOT go on. There was not enough slack. Yes, the tensioner was fully disengaged (it was bottoming out against the body of the tensioner mount, and would not rotate any further).

What I had to do to get the belt on finally was to have a friend rotate the crank whilst I pushed against the side of the belt to get it to slowly wind onto the alternator pulley. When I released the tensioner, the belt barely moved...

So, my guess is that since other people on here have complained about the GatorBack belts not fitting, GY made them a little small and certain individual cars require that slightly longer length that the OEM belt gives you.

Hope this is useful for someone.

 

[synaptic misfire]

Serpentine Belt tools are on sale at Harbor Freight for $14.99. I advise against attempting to swap the belt without it.

 

[billzie]

So, my guess is that since other people on here have complained about the GatorBack belts not fitting, GY made them a little small and certain individual cars require that slightly longer length that the OEM belt gives you.

Same problem with the Continental /Conitech belt. I’m trying to get it on now, taking a break to cool off as the temp spiked up into the low 90s today (and I’m fat lol).
I think I’m going to have to rig up a way to hold tension and get one more tooth bite from my double wrench setup and maybe walk it on too. If that done work I’ll do what you did, but my 8 year old son will have to turn the crank ( cordless impact ).
Bill